Militarism Versus Feminism - Writings on Women and War

Written in 1915, in the eighth terrible month of the First World War, Militarism versus Feminism still speaks with a fresh and relevant voice to the vital issue of peace in our time. The essays state unequivocally that `militarism has been the curse of women... In war man alone rules; when war is over man does not surrender his privileges... War, and the fear of war, has kept women in perpetual subjection.' The sweep and passion of the authors' arguement is impressive. Drawing on the works of anthropologists, historians, sociologists and feminists, they demonstrate that countries and epochs devoted to the ideals of warfare have always derided the status of women; that in those in which the values of militarism have never held sway, women were accorded respect and equality. Collected together for the first time, and with fascinating introductory and explanatory material which sets the works and their authors in their historical and political context, these essays shed invaluable light on the genesis of pacificism and feminism in the twentieth century.